wow what a week it has been… <two week later> lol… i totally forgot about this post… so back to the story.
the story begins with a phone call to my desk. apparently a client walked in and wanted some help with renewing their domain name. thinking that this was going to be easy, i proceed downstairs to meet with the client. (mistake #1)
once i got downstairs, i introduced myself and ask how i can be of service (mistake #2).
the client (elderly guy in his late 50′s, early 60′s i’m guessing) proceeds and hands me a piece of paper with two domains on it and tells me he wants to renew “his” two domains. thinking that the two domains were with my company, i asked him if he had his id and passwords for the accounts (mistake #3).
he starts explaining about how he had a website before and now he is getting a new website build and just wants the domains renewed. so i explained that in order to help him further i will need his id and passwords for his accounts. he advises that he does not have the id and passwords. so i told him to wait in the meeting room while i go look up this domain names to see how i could help him verify authorization to his accounts. this is when i find out that his domain names were not registered with us. so i headed back to the meeting room and was ready to tell him about how to register and how to transfer his domain name (mistake #4).
so the sign-up part was easy enough, but when i got to the transfer part, this is where it all fell apart. first i explain that his domain names were not registered with my company and he will need to contact his current registration company for and ensure his listed email address was valid. before i can finish, he goes off about how the domain name are his and there is no company attached to his domains. so i try to explain that with all domain name registration, it has to be registered with a company and that company is responsible for his domain name until it either becomes publicly available or it gets transferred to a different company. again he insist that his domains are “his” and does not reside with any company. so instead of arguing i told the client to wait while i find his previous company’s name. i come back with the name and asked if he recognize the name of the company. he advises no and again insist the domain name are his and not with any company. at this point the client was beginning to irk me. so to try and help the client understand his situation, i used an analogy of cellphones. i advised that once he gets a cell phone, the company he got the service remains his service provider for as long as he keeps the service or transfers else where. here i am thinking to myself, this is the perfect example (mistake #5). as a response to explanation he advises that he does not want a cell phone plan. *face palm, face palm, face palm*
patience was wearing thin at this point. so i told him he was going to have to trust me on this and pushed on to how to confirm a domain transfer (mistake #6). advising that there will be email confirmations sent to him in order for him to confirm the domain transfers to us. at this point he accuses me of lying and making up this domain transfer confirmation. asking for proof and where it is writing that there needs to be email confirmations in order to transfer the domain name.
that was the last straw. i was now in full “kicking you out professionally” mode.
instead of arguing any further, i told him i will get him the phone number the registry of his domain names so he can call them and confirm what i was saying. after getting him the phone number, i thought he was going to leave (mistake #7).
now he was interested in the hosting plans which we offered. so i started to ask him some basic questions to better gauge which one of our hosting plan would best fit his needs (mistake #8). he had no clue what he wanted or needed. so i simply advised he sit down with his new webmaster and look through our hosting plans page.
this next part nearly kills me… “what is your company’s website?” he asks. so i give him the site url and advise his click on the hosting tab for all the information he needs. he then asks, “does this contain all the information like prices and stuff it comes with? and how do i contact you.” i replied, “yes the page contains full details of our plans and you can either call us or send us an service ticket.” but he was still not done with his questions. “what’s your name and how do i get in touch with you again?” I gave my first name (mistake #9, explain more later) and advise he can either ask for me via phone or case ticket, but if he had any questions any one on my team would be able to help him (mistake #10). how he responded completely caught me off guard. “your team? what do you mean your team? are you the owner?” i underplayed my position and advised that i was one of the supervisors with the company (mistake #11). again his reaction caught me off guard. “one of the supervisors? you have more then one supervisor?”
throwing professionalism out the door and did not care about the sale anymore, i ignored his last questions and redirected back the questioning about our services and asked if he had any other questions pushing to end this meeting now. he then asked for my name again so i tell him my first name (remember mistake #9) and got another response i was not expecting, “that’s not real name.” being somewhat taken back, i replied “that is my legal name. how is that not a name?” he replies “its not a real name because you didn’t give me your last name.” i quickly explained that i am the only person by that name and for privacy reasons i do not give out my last name. at this point i was gesturing him out of the meeting room and out the front door. just before leave, he asks for a business card which i advise i do not have any because our offices is not a retail location. he turns and starts heading out the building door, while he is walking i can hear him mumble “can’t believe you how you guys do business… blah blah blah…” *door shuts*
taking a moments to regain composure. i go back into the meeting room to pickup my notepad and pen. one of my colleagues walks in and begins telling me about how when this guy first got to our door, he was like shaking and push our door and when my colleague answer the door, the guy was like “do you always keep your door locked???”
omg!!! what a nut job…
He want us to be ready and running 24/7 by September. I’m sure you can all image to change the work schedules of a team of 12 members (not big, but no small either) from normal 8-5 to rotating 24/7 shifts is not easy task in itself. Tack on some more conditions (i.e. schedule has to work for 12 people and room to grow, x number of people per shift, keeping with an 8 hour work day with one hour break, no crazy 10 or 12 hour shifts, no long term evening or graveyard shifts, no 6 or 7 day weeks, no regular OT allowed, save money, etc.) This task sounded almost impossible… Last week I found a scheduled that meet most of the items. My manager liked it… So the plan was to present it to my CEO on Monday… well trying to keep this short… my CEO did not like the schedule…
